Container for asphalt and the like



Jan. 29, 1952 P. SANTINA CONTAINER FOR ASPHALT AND THE LIKE Filed March24, 1949 INVENTOR. afer Sanf/na WWW Patented Jan. 29, 1952 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 2,583,669 CONTAINER FOR. ASPHALT AND THELIKE PeterSantlna, San Francisco, Calif.

Application March 24, 1949, Serial No. 83,232 5Claims. (01. 220-49) Thisinvention relates to a metal container for asphalt and the like. Moreparticularly, it re lates to a metallic container or barrel formed withthe usual sideseam and having. means for ripping open the sideseam so asto allow access to the contents of the container.

In packaging asphalt it is common practice to provide a cylindricalmetallic container or barrel having a bottom closure and open at thetop. The asphalt exists in the container in the form of a cylindricalblock, and at the point of use it is essential either to heat thecontainer to melt the asphalt so that it may. flow from the container,to chop out the solid contents of the container, or to rip open thecontainer to provide access to the solid block of asphalt.

The various means previously employed for removing asphalt from suchcontainers have been unsatisfactory. Heating is obviously undesirable,especially at small installations. Thus, a source of heat must beprovided, and also means for handling the hot containers and the hotfiuid asphalt. Time must be allowed to melt the asphalt.

Chopping the asphalt out of a container is obviously laborious, andprior methods of ripping the container have also been laborious and havedamaged the container excessively.

It is an object of the present invention to provide improved means foropening metallic containers of the character described.

It is a particular object ofthe invention to provide a means for openingmetallic containers containing asphalt, such means being embodied in thecontainer and immediately available whenever desired to open thecontainer.

It is a further and particular object of the in vention to provide asimple and eiiective means for opening a metallic container containingasphalt or the like, such means being effective to part the container atits sideseam while at the same time doing a minimum of damage to thecontainer. I

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from theensuing description and the appended claims.

Certain forms which the invention may assume are exemplified in thefollowing description and illustrated by way of example in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. '1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a section taken along the line 5-5 Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and3, there is shown a cylindrical metallic container or barrel I0 having abody ll preferably constructed of a light gauge metal such as a lightgauge aluminum al- 10y. The body is provided with a bottom closure I2;The container is shown as being filled with a solid material It, such asasphalt. The usual sideseam I l and double end seam 15 are provided.Referring more particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, as illustrated, thesideseams i l comprise an inner hook l6 and an outer hook I! which isinterlocked with the inner hook. The double end seam comprises an innerhook it and an outer hook l9 which is interlocked with the inner'hoo'k.

The container Ill embodies a wire rip cord 25 which, as illustrated, isseated in the bend of the cuterhook ll of the sideseam It. At its endsthe wire rip cord 25 is formed into a loop 26 or 21. A5 shown in Fig. 3the rip cord is also seated in the double end seam l5 and it has thesame general configuration as the outer hook it. The wire 25 ispreferably a piano wire or other wire having a comparable high tensilestrength.

In manufacturing the container It the usual procedure is involved. Thatis, the body blanks are formed and notched and hooks are formed forforming the sideseam and a flange is formed for forming the end seam.The ends are also formed with flanges for the end seam. The only respectin which usual can forming operations are modified is that the rip cord25 is inserted in the outer hook l! before the latter is interlockedwith the inner hook I6.

When it is desired to remove the asphalt [3 from the container, theupper loop 26 of the rip cord '25 is grasped by hand or with a tool suchas a pair of pliers and is pulled laterally and downwardly as indicatedby the arrow a in Fig. l. The wire thereby cuts the outer hook I! at itsbend or crease which, of course, is the weakest point in the seam. Thesideseam M is thus effectively ripped. To remove the bottom closure l2,the bottom loop 21 will be pulled upwardly to interlock the double seaml5. It is then a. simple operation to peel the body H and the bottomclosure I2 from the solid block of asphalt l3.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, the container l there shown is identicalwith that illustrated in Fig. 1 and described hereinabove except that itis provided with a lid 28 which may be secured to the body II by meansof a double seam 29 or by any other suitable means. As also illustrated,near its top and bottom, the body II is slotted to provide annular topand bottom grooves 30 or 3|. The rip cord 25, having end loops 26 and21, is disposed in the sideseam l4 and projects outwardly from the endseams l5 and 29 in the manner described hereinabove and illustrated inFigs. 2 and 3.

In this embodiment of the invention the rip cord 25 may be manipulatedas described above. However, it is not necessary to rip off both endclosures. Thus, the rip cord 25 may be pulled downwardly until it ripsthe body ll between the upper and lower annular grooves 30 and 3!. Thesegrooves so weaken the body II that, after it has been ripped between thegrooves 30 and 3|, it is a simple matter to peel the central portion 32of the body II from the block of asphalt. Thus, access is provided tothe asphalt without ripping off the bottom closure.

This embodiment of the invention is especially adapted to containers inwhich the bottom closure, the top closure or both end closures areclamped to the body of the container by means such that a rip cord willnot remove them. Thus, it is necessary to extend the rip cord only fromthe top groove 30 to the bottom groove 3|.

It will be apparent that a novel and very useful means for opening ametallic container or barrel is provided. Such means is inexpensive,involving no modification of the usual seam forming operations informing a container except to place a small length of wire in the outerhook of the sideseams before forming the seam. Operation of the deviceis extremely simple, and may be carried out manually or by means of asimple tool such as a pair of pliers. A further and important advantageresides in the fact that the body H of the container is damaged only tothe extent that the inner portion of the outer hook is ripped loose fromthe main body of the container. This constitutes a very small fractionof the container. The body ll, after cleaning, can be used again to forma container having practically the same volume.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention, it is to beunderstood that various changes may be made in its construction by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent isl. A metallic container having a tubular body portionincluding a sideseam formed, of interlocked inner and outer hooks, anend closure for said container locked to the body portion by means of anend seam, and a rip cord seated in the bendof said outer hook and alsoseated in said end seam, one end of said rip cord pro- 4 jectingoutwardly from the container to provide a hand hold.

2. A metallic container comprising a tubular body having a side seam, arip cord mounted within said seam and extending longitudinally thereofand beyond at least one end of the body and a cover at the end of thebody from which said end of said rip cord extends, said cord beingreturned bent by said cover and extending between said cover and saidbody.

3. A metallic container comprising a tubular body having a side seam, arip cord mounted within said seam and extending longitudinally thereofand beyond at least one end of the body and a cover at the end of thebody from which said end of said rip cord extends, said cord beingreturned bent by said cover and extending between said cover and saidbody, and a pull ring formed on the extended end of said rip cord.

4. A metallic container comprising a tubular body having a side seam, arip cord mounted within said seam and extending longitudinally thereofand beyond both ends of said body and a cover at both ends of the bodythe extended ends of said cord being returned bent by said covers andextending between said covers and said body.

5. In a can having a longitudinally extending side seam formed byinterlocking return bent edges of the can body, a rip cord mountedwithin said side seam and extending beyond both ends thereof, a pair ofspaced annular weakenings in the can body adjacent the ends thereof, apair of cap-like covers engaging over the both ends of said body, theends of said rip cord being returned bent under the edges of said coversand extending therebeyond and a pair of pull rings formed on theextended ends of said rip cord.

PETER SANTINA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

.UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 568,340 Duval Sept. 29, 1896700,577 Thompson May 20, 1902 858,725 Kregelins July 2, 1907 910,182 DowJan. 19, 1909 1,542,662 Brenzinger June 16, 1925 1,630,542 Schulz May31, 1927 1,734,378 Hildebrandt Nov. 5, 1929 1,904,612 Bramson Apr. 18,1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 3,490 Great Britain Feb. 16,1899 21,099 Norway Jan. 30, 1911 27,200 Great Britain Nov. 26, 1913280,614 Great Britain Nov. 10, 1927 281,107 Italy Dec. 31, 1930 388,016France July 31, 1908

